MOVIN' ON-Royal slugger D.J. Smith sends a shot to the outfield during Wednesday's 6-1 win over Simi Valley. With the victory, the Highlanders earned the Marmonte League title outright. The Pioneers end their season with a record of 16-12, 5-9 in league.

The year was 1999. Lance Armstrong had just won his first Tour de France, George Bush began to emerge as the Republican frontrunner for the White House, and Ricky Martin was melting hearts all over the world with his breakthrough hit "Livin’ la Vida Loca."

That same year Royal High School captured the Marmonte League baseball championship. Six years later, under a flawless sun and clear blue skies at Simi Valley High, the Highlanders returned to the zenith of Marmonte baseball.

Royal’s 10-1 shellacking of Simi (16-12, 5-9 in league) Wednesday afternoon clinched the league championship for the Highlanders (23-3, 10-3 in league) and may have earned the senior-laden club a top seed in the upcoming Division I Southern Section playoffs.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) will announce its playoff seedings Mon., May 16. The Highlanders will play its first postseason game since the 2001 season Friday, May 20.

"It’s pretty awesome," said senior infielder Sean Sua after recording the game’s final out on an unassisted force play at second base. "But we were expected to win, so it’s really not that much of a surprise to us."

After serving as the team’s pitching ace all season long, senior Clayton Edwards had his finest game of the year at the plate in the title clincher. Edwards hit a three-run home run in the second inning and added a solo blast in the seventh. In all, Edwards had four RBI and scored four runs on the afternoon.

"Playing against Simi you try to have your best game," Edwards said. "We’ve been looking forward to this all year, actually for a couple of years. . . . It’s good to know we have a title under our belts. Now we’ll just try to take it to CIF."

Senior pitcher/first baseman D.J. Smith pitched five scoreless inning to earn the victory. He allowed only two base hits, struck out six and walked two. Edwards, along with seniors Tyler Thompson, Jesse Baxter and Phil Boscarino, combined to record the final six outs.

"It was nice to get out there and throw an inning," the oft-used Baxter said. "We have so many great players that I hardly ever get the opportunity to get in because there’s so much talent on our team. I’m so happy though. It’s great."

To a man, the Highlander players didn’t seem overly content winning the league title. They say their focus remains on capturing the Division I championship, a tough task considering not one player on the team’s roster has any postseason baseball experience at the high school level.

Head coach Dan Maye, however, believes his guys are battle tested despite heading into an unfamiliar postseason environment. He points out the rigors of the Marmonte schedule and the fact his team has seen the opposition’s top pitchers on a regular basis this year as proof.

"They have some tournament experience from the preseason and from spring tournaments," said Maye, who is making his 11th trip to the playoffs as Royal’s head coach. "I don’t believe they’re going to know any different.

"With other teams I’d worry about getting tight, but this group I expect to go out and say, ‘Oh, this is just another one of those tight games.’ And unless a pitcher goes out and shuts us down, we’ll just rely on our solid defense and have some guys put the ball in play and keep things close."

Clayton and Smith are likely to receive the bulk of the postseason pitching assignments, with Clayton (9-1, 1.42 ERA) getting the starting nod in Friday’s playoff opener.